Ironically, but fortunately, they are very comfortable styles. Behold the city-prairie dress, toughened with an assertive belt.

The Photographer has labeled these photos “Sister-Wife With Kick-Ass Belt”

Floaty tiers in a small, flocked pattern that suggests calico.

Sister-Wife? Kick-Ass? That sounds about right

Actually this project is closer to polyglot than polygamy

A friend of mine came over for dinner a few weeks before a trip to Marrakech and mentioned the difficulty of finding lightweight dresses that covered her legs and arms.

Perhaps she did not realize that she was waving a red flag in front of a bull! No sooner had she left and I was searching the Internet for possibilities. I sent her a bunch of suggestions and then, because I am bonkers, I ordered a bunch of dresses for her, figuring I would “take a look” and then pass on any good candidates to her. Neither of us had great success, but I decided to keep this dress for myself.

I was trying to be helpful

Sooooo helpful

You may wonder why I didn’t pass it on to my Morocco-bound friend? Two reasons. First, she is thinner and has a more delicate frame than I do; I thought there was too much dress in this dress for her. Second, as you will see in the last photo, the dress is semi-sheer. It seemed to me that sheer fabric would really undercut the convention of covering one’s arms and legs.

R: If you are reading this post and thinking “I can’t believe she kept that dress from me” — I am sorry! We can share it.

Is this dress the most flattering thing ever? Well, no. But I like it all the same. It has a winsomeness to it.

Finding this dress was not just a cross-cultural challenge. I like the idea of long sleeves and covered legs for summer to protect me from The Sun.

The Sun: Benevolent Tyrant or Unforgiving Patron?

Old sandals with winsome dress

The dress is a dark blue somewhere between navy and slate, so I have paired it with black (patent) sandals and a navy (patent) bag.

With the Unforgiving Patron behind me, you can see how transparent the fabric is. The dress came with its own, slate grey cotton knee-length slip and I think the length of the slip is perfect. A full length slip would be a little drab.

Have a fantastic weekend! Things to look forward to in the near future: In her continued quest for enlightenment and growth, The Directrice wears a v-neck top.